Friday, December 28, 2018
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
This is the way I get to see my husband during the month of December. Oh, every now and then he'll spin the chair around, but basically, that it. He has a nice head of hair. Broad shoulders. He comes to bed around 2 am and gets up by 6 am. So I don't see him there. He kisses me good morning when he sets a Diet Coke on my bedside table.
We run an Etsy business and the holiday shopping really slams us. That's the reason we celebrate Christmas in January. And that's fine. I really do look forward to seeing him again, though. I'll leave you with a note we received, last night. We're so tired and people can be so grumpy- mostly because they ordered last minute and they expect the moon. But sometimes you have a customer who makes it all worthwhile.
I cannot begin to thank you enough for the PERFECT key chains! And what a special blessing to open the package and find Bill's note with the "extra" key chain. I will write and post a review as soon as I can settle my emotions enough to write one that might make sense.
The handwriting was my brother's and was taken from the last note he wrote me. He faithfully served our Lord and Savior while suffering from an inoperable brain tumor - and the note he wrote me was a plea to make sure my children, niece and nephew always remember how much he loved them, but more importantly how much he loved God - even in the midst of unmentionable physical suffering. My brother passed away November 14, 2017.
My parents cared for my brother every single day of the last seven years of his life. My sister and I helped as much as we could, but most of the care fell to my parents. The key chains are Christmas gifts for them and my sister. I started to order one for myself, but decided to wait and ask my husband to get it for my birthday as we try hard to stay on budget at Christmas - our belief is being present is much more important than getting presents. I will admit, I was sad when I opened the first envelope and saw the wonderful key chain...and my brother's distinctive "I love you" with his circled M signature.
I selfishly wanted one and regretted not going ahead and ordering one for myself, My husband saw the tears and asked me if there was something wrong with the order...and I had to fess up and tell him I was just being selfish and wanting one for myself. He had already counted envelopes and couldn't understand why I was upset; after all there were 4 key chains! I told him I only ordered 3...and that's when I looked at the packing slip and saw the note. The tears came in buckets upon reading your note and realizing God has used you to bless me in such an incredibly special way!!
You all have made this Christmas extra special! We are already thinking of what we can order from you next.
God bless and Merry Christmas,
Monday, December 17, 2018
I'm spending a lot of time at my desk. Our Etsy shop is still in high dudgeon. I don't think that's a real word but spell check says it is. Last minute orders are needing filled and everyone is in a panic that the order they placed a week before Christmas may not arrive in time. Guys, ya waited to the last minute to order. I'm doing the best I can. But we'd hate for anyone to be disappointed. So we press on into the wee morning hours and beyond- taking a nap in place of a full night's sleep. Reassuring nervous customers that it'll be there. I wonder if they've considered that it might get there a bit sooner if I didn't have to stop and answer their emails... Probably not.
So we bought a small artificial tree this year as a "pre-tree." You know, one you put up before you get the real deal. Why would I do that? Cause with all this busy-ness with the business... I just hate to be rushed when it comes to the holidays. I LOVE Christmas and everything it entails. I'm that friend you're annoyed with because she plays Christmas carols in October. I love the cooking and baking. The wrapping and decking. So, I'm gonna have two trees. One small artificial tree that we've decorated entirely with home made ornaments- except the candy canes. There's popcorn strings and dehydrated oranges and apples. Gingerbread men and metallic painted cardboard stars. Hand sewn stars and hearts and a couple of these cute doves. (My niece made these. She's big into re-purposing and denim is her favorite. The red flannel stars are from flannel pajama bottoms.) My daughter hand-dyes Ukrainian eggs- works of art. It's a very pretty tree.
But come Saturday, the big one is going to be cut down and I can hardly wait! The tree farm is normally closed, but he says he'll open up for us- he lives there and said he doesn't mind- just call a day ahead. I'm thinking BIG. Hope he has what I need. This tree will be decked out in all the bling that is my extensive ornament collection. I used to buy an ornament every time I went to town in the months of November and December. This year, well, I'm not getting out much. But I found a huge box of old ornaments in a storage unit I bought a few years ago. Score! Lots of lights, lots of shiny glass. I once heard it said that Christmas trees are modern day asheroths. ?!?! I'm not worshiping the thing, I just happen to love how it looks and how it smells. The same could be said about my husband!
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Friday, December 07, 2018
We're busy, busy here in the shop. Like little elves. While my sweet man is running to the post office to drop off orders, I'm lolly gagging around posting a blog entry. Don't tell. But all work and no play makes Nina a stressed out girl! This is a bricks and stepping stones quilt from Bonnie Hunter's pattern. I ended up making two of them- one for each daughter- out of yep, strip bins. And I really like them and more importantly, the girls do, too. I'd like to get them quilted by Christmas but things are going to have to settle down out here in the shop for that to happen. At any rate, we're not celebrating Christmas until January, so I think it's doable.
Fruit cake gets a bum rap. If you think you don't like fruit cake, maybe you've never had home made. I'm just saying it's a favorite around here and they'd never let me get by without making it every holiday season. It takes 3 hours to bake so I make two at a time. Kinda expensive but worth it. The trick is to age it at least two weeks. And I don't use brandy to soak them in but orange juice. Is that weird? But it's mighty tasty. I have a lot of elves to help in the process. Love spending time together. I got to hold the grand baby, shout out directions and sit back and watch as they did all the work. How cool is that?
Friday, November 30, 2018
Don't say you haven't felt this way when you opened your strip bin and started sewing. Strip after strip and the bin never empties. I think there's a story like that in the Bible. Only she had flour and oil. I'd be ok with that. Never running out of food is a good thing. Now that I think of it, never running out of fabric would be pretty cool, too. But I just really wanted to see the bottom of that bin. One bin. I made three queen, one twin and one throw sized quilt from that one bin. I no longer keep a bin of miscellaneous sized strips. If it doesn't fit in the 2, 2.5, 3" bins then it just has to go away. You have to draw the line somewhere.
This picture was taken last year and I got such a laugh out of it. After the Christmas season is a tough time for me. I love the holidays, but last year I was swamped with work and then I had a hard time winding down. Thus the sewing frenzy. I'm determined to pace myself this year. I even have a list for the calendar, things to do during the months of December and January. Because of our crazy working schedule during December, we decided to drag out the holidays through the month of January. Taking it easy and slow. This is supposed to be fun, right? Sewing wise, I'm not sure where I'm going. I think a few more place mat bags for the kids... I have a blank spot of the bathroom wall that could use a Christmas wall hanging... Bekah wants a skirt sewn onto the bottom of a pair of overalls... I still have that shirt to sew for Jacob... Not hurting for possible projects. Hoping you're all happily stitching along.
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Let's be facing it, Thanksgiving is another reason to be thankful for pie. I just had to share this pie crust recipe with my friends- it's too good to keep all to myself. If you did your pie making yesterday, you can always save this recipe for Christmas.
One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it doesn't involve a rolling pin. There's no cutting in of shortening or butter. If I were a neater cook, there would be no floury counter top to clean. It seems too easy. The taste and texture is amazing and to be honest, I prefer the taste and texture of this pie crust over any that I've ever had. So here goes:
Pie Crust
- 1 1/2 cups of flour
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 2 Tablespoons of sugar
- 1/2 cup of oil
- 3 1/2 Tablespoons of milk.
That's it!
Mix the dry ingredients in the pie pan with a fork. Whisk the milk in with the oil. Pour over the flour mixture.
Stir flour mixture and oil mixture together with a fork. It takes a little bit of time to get the flour completely incorporated, but trust me it will work. All of the flour will pull away from the edges of the pan.
Smash the dough out on the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Tada! You have a pie crust! I'm so excited for you! I didn't crimp this one, but then Bekah got involved and we went the extra mile and made the next few all fancy like.
If you want to make a pudding type pie, just bake at 425* for 15 minutes or until golden. Otherwise, just fill the pie as usual. You can't make a double crust pie with this recipe, but then I've been putting a crumb crust on the top of my fruit pies and that's simple, too. This recipe works great for quiche and meat pies- just leave out the sugar. I hope you all have a peaceful and blessed Thanksgiving.
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